Edmund Barton

Edmund Barton (18 January 1849-7 January 1920) was Prime Minister of Australia from 1 January 1901 to 24 September 1903, preceding Alfred Deakin. A member of the Protectionist Party, Barton was the first Australian prime minister.

Biography
Edmund Barton was born in Glebe, Sydney, Australia on 18 January 1849, and he studied at the University of Sydney before becoming a lawyer in 1871. Barton was a free trader, and he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1879, becoming Speaker in 1883. He resigned in 1887 and subsequently focused on promoting the cause of an Australian federation, taking over the leadership of the federal movement in New South Wales in 1891. Because of his tireless and patient advocacy of freedom, he became the accepted leader of the federal movement in all Australia, and he was the first of 49 candidates to be elected to the Australasian Federal Convention. He convined his home state to join the federation and sent a delegation to explain the proposed constitution to Joseph Chamberlain and the imperial government in London in 1900, and the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed on 1 January 1901, with Barton becoming its first prime minister. Barton led Australia as a member of the Protectionist Party, which allied with the Australian Labor Party in opposition to the Free Trade Party. He became a founding justice of the High Court of Australia after his retirement, and he died in 1920.